


Shadow

by Mizu7



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackmail, Complicated Relationships, F/F, Kinda?, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Voyeurism, sombra being a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizu7/pseuds/Mizu7
Summary: Everything and anyone can be hacked. Anyone. She makes sure even her comrades are aware.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Considering it canon that Sombra has hacked into Winston's data and stolen some of his tech...

“Ayy! Look who decided to show up!” 

“We would have come back sooner if you didn’t reroute the ship three times” Reaper growled, stomping past the girl who laughed as he went, smoke steaming from his hood appearing cartoon like. 

“Ahh but I enjoyed having the place to myself for an extra hour” she grinned, gently pushing the desk off with her foot, sending herself and the swivel chair around in circles,”Also don’t bother looking for the _bolillos_ I know you’re the one taking them _pendejo_!” 

Faint curses were heard down the hall but otherwise she went unheard by other Talon agents that ignored her as they went. It was safer that way, for them, to be unnoticed by the hacker. Considering the last guy who talked back seemed to disappear overnight. Even records of him were erased, like he never existed in the first place. 

She forced herself into a stop as the tall sniper approached indicating the end of the soldiers returning to base. Leaning back in her seat, she raised an eyebrow at the woman and smiled. 

“Have fun out there?” she started but Widowmaker said nothing, “Didn’t see you out there much” she tried again, her single finger glowing as the screens behind her replayed the very operation they returned from moments ago. Another seemingly simple day that became complicated as Overwatch appeared. 

Widow sighed, knowing very well that Sombra wouldn’t stop otherwise, and turned around. Facing the smug woman who was clearly hiding something that she just couldn’t wait to reveal. 

“We were successful in our mission” she stated as emotionless and cold as her skin. 

“Busy with a certain… _annoyance_?”

She didn’t move. If she was surprised she made no motion or indication of it. If anything she appeared to have been expecting it. 

Which drove Sombra crazy. 

Here she sat, legs crossed and eyebrows up and knowing smile on point and wasn’t given a single expression of shock for her discovery. 

She clicked her tongue and waved her hand, summoning twenty purple screens into existence before Widow’s eyes, surrounding her in a teasing manner and as each one was a photo of herself and said annoyance. 

Sharing intimate moments in what they thought was private, be it on the roof, dark alley’s just a few feet from the battle where their comrades fought to the death while Overwatch’s mascot had her legs around Widow’s waist awhile being pushed up against a wall. 

A few photos were even from behind closed doors. This being a recent development as they were tired of being interrupted and opted to meeting in hotels under false names. Photos of them being tangled in sheets and even a few of the aftermath with just the smallest smile of satisfaction on her face while Tracer slept away in an exhausted heap beside her. 

But once again, Widow appeared to be bored. Taking a nice long look at each photo with little to no expression, until a particular one caught her eye and she grinned. 

“Send this one to me, I enjoyed that evening” she laughed, pointing to a photo regarding a creative use for her grapple and the look of shock on Tracer’s face was priceless. 

Sombra sat there dumbfounded, she was half tempted to bring up the videos but that might have been a little weird but boy was she thinking about it. She clicked her tongue again and tapped her chin, staring up at the tall woman who chuckled silently to herself as she looked over each of her conquests.

“…well I can honestly I wasn’t expecting that” she huffed, waving her hand and the glowing purple screens returned to her. 

“I don’t care what you know or what you’ve seen” Widow paused a moment, crossing her arms, staring down at her with piercing eyes,” At least I have my allegiances straight” 

Sombra let out a fake gasp, clutching her heart in offense,” _Ay dios mio_ …I am hurt that you would have any reason to distrust me _amiga_ ” she laughed. 

Widow was done, rolling her eyes and turning on her heel she began to walk off. 

But Sombra wasn’t finish yet. 

“Ah well fine if you’re going to play like that“

Another screen appeared before her eyes, just inches from her nose promptly stopping her from moving forward. But before she could turn and smack that smug smile right off her face, she froze. 

_SLIPSTREAM PROJECT_

_TESTING PILOT_

_**LENA “TRACER” OXTON** _

Widow slowly backed up, realizing the photo in front of her was of a young Lena, smiling bright in front of a monster of a fighter jet. 

And no device strapped to her chest. 

Another screen popped up next to it and another, and another. Photos of a plane engulfed in flames and in pieces on the ground. Files of the report appeared below it, declaring Lena Oxton dead. 

Two more screens appeared above it, security footage of scientists crowded around windows like a new species of animal had appeared at the zoo. The other showing one lone woman within, curled up in a ball, shaking and phasing in and out like a ghost. 

One by one screens popped up, research and files, recorded phone messages and everything involving bringing Lena back from the dead. Including blue prints to the prototype of the device soon to be called the Chronal Accelerator, Winston’s signature at the bottom and approved by the Overwatch scientific board. 

Detailed specs of the harness and the changes to be made, photos of the surgery and even some faded security footage, old and lagging but Lena’s screams were clear as day. 

As each new screen appeared, Widow slowly turned to examine each and every single one until she was facing Sombra, who with the snap of her fingers and a smile summoned multiple notes, studies and sketches of Tracer and her weaknesses and strengths. Research by Talon since day one.  

“Overwatch security isn’t what it used to be” she grinned, her nails stroking the air, causing the multiple screens of info to spin around the sniper who remained utterly silent. But her eyes were more than enough, wide and frozen. 

“It wouldn’t be difficult to create a remote for that little device. Make her do a dance, send her back a few centuries in history or maybe even-” 

The screens stopped, as one last small square appeared before her of a prototype remote kill switch was in the works.

“Lights out”  

Widow reached out and grabbed a fist full of her jacket, yanking her forward before slamming her into the nearest wall.

Sombra yelped, clutching her hand around her wrist but immediately froze, slowly lifting her hands up in surrender as she felt the sharp prick underneath her jaw where Widow was a single twitch away from launching a poisonous mine right into her skull as she jammed her fist against her throat.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, face pulled into a fierce scowl that brought forth a mental note that Sombra never once witnessed the Widowmaker lose her cool.

“Give me one reason” was all she said, her voice low and in no mood for showing mercy.

“Easy _Arana_ ” she started, offering a small smile that went unnoticed as her fist pushed against her harder,“I won’t touch your _carino_ ”

Her nails grew in brightness as she reached out and closed her hands into a fist, every screen, bit of info, photo and video returned to her grasp. 

Widow watched as she visible squeezed her hand tight until a small beeping was heard. Turning her hand around, she opened her fingers and there was nothing. 

She deleted everything. 

“See? Just like that, all gone” 

Widow remained still and not convinced, “Why?” 

But Sombra just shrugged,“Your secret is safe with me”

“At what cost” 

“Can’t you accept this solidarity act between comrades?”

“No” 

She laughed, “Then you’re smarter than most” 

Widow’s grip lighten, only slightly but enough to let her know she’s willing to listen.

“Would you believe me if I said I like seeing you happy?” 

She scoffed,” _Non_ ” 

“Fair enough. If it makes you feel better, then if I call on a favor you’d best answer. Reaper may not care and the others couldn’t do anything with a photo of you going down on that girl but I don’t think the heads of this beast would find it as amusing as I do” 

She said nothing, releasing her grip and retracting the mine, Widow turned on her heel and promptly walked away without a single word. Not that she needed to say anything, Sombra straightened up, smoothing the wrinkles out of the lapels as she watched her go. Waiting until she was out of site to bring up a new email. 

Plucking a small purple box from thin air and gently placing it in the message. 

In a few short seconds Widow would receive every single photo of herself and Tracer. Apparently there were much more than what was shown earlier, surprisingly enough even short clips. Of the killer Widowmaker gently brushing brown hair between her fingers, watching the girl sleep peacefully. 

All of this followed up by a short message with a sugar skull next to it as a signature. 

_“Que lindo~”_


	2. Light's Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, Sombra was never one to keep promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A commission for Jaspergemm. 
> 
> In which I decided to expand on this and make it into a mini series.

 

**Sombra are you in position?**

She’s honestly surprised the alarm didn’t go off right then and there, the entire base should have heard how hard she rolled her eyes into the sun.

**_Si_ _si_ will you relax _azul_ …?**

**You need better nicknames**

**You need to get that stick out of your ass**

**You both need to focus.**

Sombra scoffed at the low growl in her ear, barely looking as her fingers flew across her holoscreens. Why this place chose to have their security systems on the roof, outside in a very not so subtle looking shack and barely protected (if you wanted to call a few guards and sad looking turrets that turned on each other after some simple hacking protection) is beyond her but within a few minutes every single turret in the compound would be down and every door unlocked, leaving their valuable information ripe for the taking and high ranking officers to be taken down all in one place. It could cripple a nation’s security in less than an hour.

It was too easy and every feeling in her gut was sending her red flags since they got there but it was too late now.

**Doors will be down in 5**

But there was no snippy response requesting for faster results or yet another confirmation. Only gunfire, some shouting and a deep growl of frustration.

**Aw do we have visitors?**

She laughed, looking out into the distance finding flashes of light and dark smoke beginning to stretch into the sky already.

**Get those doors open and get in there while we keep them busy.**

**Right right just try to not get yourselves ki-**

She stopped, frozen on the spot as something or...someone managed to get by without her noticing.

That noise…

She knew that noise. Not something she had heard for herself in person before, but one she had in many holovids and it was normally followed by an obnoxious giggle...

“Don’t move”

Before she knew it, the cold business end of a pistol was pressed against the back of her head.

Oh she wanted to laugh, slowly turning and there she was, face to face with the Overwatch mascot. Just as she was in every poster and commercial from back in the glory days of the oddball misfits of justice, consisting of 75% bright yellow leggings and the soft hum of the machine strapped to her chest.

“Well well, if it isn’t the girl scout...” she purred, not at all intimidated by that sorry excuse for a glare. Honestly, she looked more like an upset puppy with a pea shooter.

“And you must be Sombra”

Her face dropped.

“Ooh yes, we know who you are. Honestly I’m surprised you took the bait”

It was too easy because it was a trap.

**SOMBRA. THE . DOOR.**

That stupid smug grin on her face, just so pleased with herself for finally catching the elusive hacker, the one thing Sombra prided herself in. Being in the shadows and nonexistent but not anymore, she knew it was a matter of time but to have the face of Overwatch be the one to stand tall above her was...more than annoying.

“Look... _Amiga_...Clearly you’re lost…” she started slowly, forcing herself to breathe calmly as she stepped back inch by inch. Casually wiping her arm behind her back as she playfully wiggled her brows.

“Your girlfriend is over there. So why don’t you run along and…’distract her’ “ she winked, bringing up her free hand to add quotations to her remarks, while her hidden hand flew across a tiny keyboard and continued hacking while Tracer stood there absolutely dumbfounded.

And blushing furiously.

“E-excuse me!?” she squeaked, pointing both pistols straight at her.

At this, Sombra did laugh.

“Aw don’t be shy...I won’t tell...Lena Oxton~” she grinned,”I heard the Moscow Hotel is quite lovely this time of year”

Tracer fell utterly silent, her grip on her weapons had nearly gone slack in pure shock.

This is what she lived for. That look on a person’s face when they realize someone knows, that someone is aware of their deepest and darkest secrets.

When they realize there was a noose tied around their neck the entire time and had no idea until it was too late.

Sombra was now the one looking smug and proud.

It took a moment, the obnoxious alarms and explosions happening within the compound where most likely other members of Overwatch were in the fight of their lives before Tracer finally snapped out of her numb shock. The crimson blush on her cheeks still burning bright as she tightened her grip on her weapons,”You’re not going to come quietly are you?”

“That’s funny….I was about to ask you the same thing”

With one last flick of the wrist the alarm system shutdown and the wailing siren and thunderous turrets were silenced.

And the doors opened.

Sombra winked and blew a kiss before disappearing from sight, leaving a very flabbergasted Tracer behind.

“W-wait...Wh-what?!”

**_Dios Mio_ Widowmaker she is annoying.**

**I’m aware.**

**CAN WE MOVE ON PLEASE**

**Right right, I’m on my wa-** That noise again, right behind her and firing blindly but she was getting too close for comfort.   **OH FOR FUCKS SAKE**

 **Careful Sombra…** Oh she could feel the smile on her face as she spoke, it’s rare to hear her be so playful but it was always when she was involved. **She’s very persistent.**

“You’re not getting away from me that easily!”

“ _Holy Shit_ You are so annoying you hero types...I’m sure you have better things to do like….?”

“I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SAY. DON’T YOU EVEN”

She’s fast. Way faster than anticipated. But worse of all, she’s smart. Not necessarily wise in the sense that she is a godawful liar and it was nothing short of a miracle that Overwatch had no idea she was sleeping with the enemy in every literal and figurative sense. But smart enough to know that it rained recently, and invisible or not her footsteps were more than enough to lead her in the right direction.

Which meant she had to switch it up.

Invisibility cloak down to conserve power for her next trick, she sprinted towards the main wall of the compound. The main doors locked as per her orders to avoid anyone leaving or entering with soldiers meant to be guarding it slumped over with a perfect bullet sized hole between the eyes. Using the momentum of her sprint and device in hand, she chucked Translocator over the wall with all her strength and promptly disappeared just moments before Tracer attempted to take her down.

Reappearing midair was always tricky, if not gut wrenching, but more so risky. As her luck would have it, she landed hard on the balcony of a control tower, rolling over and slamming into the railing. She barely had time to register the pain and grab the translocating device before the blinking noise of the obnoxious brit was heard. With a huff, she jumped back up to her feet and leapt off the balcony with Tracer still hot on her tail.

“You don’t know when to quit do you?!” she laughed, landing on another rooftop she sprinted away, loading her gun.

“You’re new at this aren’tcha?”

God that giggle was so annoying. Sombra spun around, holding down the trigger and unleashing a flurry of bullets that hitting nothing but a blur of blue light. Tracer laughed as she easily dodged each one, obnoxious rolling and flipping in there. It wasn’t necessary in the slightest but it was aggravating beyond comprehension. Like she was playing with her.   

“I’m just getting started!”

Technically she had every right to, Tracer fought the last half of the omnic crisis, was out there in battle with full sized omnics. She had more experience in the field than she did and she was well on her way of figuring that out herself.

“That’s nice. I’m done!”

Sliding cross the roof to avoid a short burst of bullets, she reached out and dug her nails into a dormant turret, instantly brought to life and aimed straight for the yellow leggings as she continued to sprint away.

Tracer yelped and blinked away into hiding but it didn’t last long. A well placed blink across and a pulse bomb in the right spot and the turret was long gone by the time she was back on her tail.

Another string of curses in spanish, Sombra scrambled across the compound, slamming her finger in her ear and finally conceding.

**I need back up!**

The silence that followed was deafening. Sombra never requested back up before. She never needed to, able to run in and out and stay out of trouble on her own.

**YES I KNOW WHAT I SAID I NEED BACK UP I CAN’T SHAKE HER**

**I’m busy with this gorilla. Targets escaped. Widow?**

The sky rang out with thunder four consecutive times.

**Targets down. Position compromised. You’re on your own, _amiga_ …**

Sombra growled in frustration, taking the Translocating device for another attempt to get away. But just as before, leaning back and using the momentum of her sprint to launch it on top of the hanger, a blur of blue brushed past her and caught it in mid air, immediately bringing Sombra to a skidding halt.

Tracer landed beautifully, several feet ahead of her, holding the purple pulsing device in her grasp with furrowed brows. She didn’t even break a sweat and here Sombra was, huffing and panting like the mile she just did but for absolutely nothing.

It unfortunately took much less time than she amused it would, the slow reveal of realization washing over her face as Tracer looked straight at her and she was less than amused.

“Of course you’re the one that hacked into Winton’s files...You stole his tech!”

Sombra shrugged, casually waving her hands as she spoke, hopefully to distract from the sweat heading across her brow and sliding down her neck, “Sometimes I feel a little sick after using it...I’m sure you know what I mean right Tracer?”

This was different, Tracer stood tall, dropping the device like dead weight and promptly unloaded an entire clip of bullets into it, tearing it to shreds until it was but a pile of scrap and lights that slowly burned out. Now, she was angry.

“Won’t be a problem if you just disappear forever” she spat.

Oh.

Now there’s an idea.

“No one likes a thief. But I’m giving you one last chance to come along quietly”

She made a promise. To never use it, she said it right to her face. But of course she built it, it was easy, the specs were right in front of her and Talon’s team were well into it’s development. She just had to fill in the gaps and there it was. Ready to be tested.

But the way the girl just stood there, pistols pointed at her, the slightest smirk on her face as if she claimed victory already. It made her blood boil.

That stupid chipper attitude, a hero speech every time she spoke, the face of Overwatch and everything stood for embodied in a single person. Sombra wanted nothing more than to smother the light in her eyes.

“Not today. Not ever” she hissed, gun pointed straight at that dumb face.

Tracer was quick to jump out of the way and avoid another onslaught of bullets, but in doing so she was distracted. With her free hand, Sombra reached out with her claw like nails towards her, beams of purple light shot out from each tip, attaching themselves to Tracer’s harness as she was still air born in mid jump. As if she held her heart in her hand, Sombra closed her fist and pulled back, ripping the beams off of her and taking the blue light at its center with it.

The entire compound heard her scream.

She landed hard against the concrete rooftop right on her side as the harness let out a wild electrical charge. The source of it’s power gone and unable to keep itself together, releasing discharge around her body, sending her into violent convulsions. She screamed and cried, clutching the harness and looking on in complete horror, the light was gone.

Sombra stepped back and watched on. She thought for sure she would feel more amused watching her suffer.

But as the girl began to fade, like a ghost flickering in and out of reality.

Like a glitchy computer.

Like how it felt to be hacked and caught on her own systems.

She felt her stomach drop.

In an instant she was gone for a moment and reappeared a few feet away seconds later, tears streaming down her face as she desperately clawed the ground around her as if to keep her from disappearing. Her mouth was moving, punching buttons on her arms or ear piece to try and call for help but no words left her lips.

But Sombra shrugged, calmly putting her weapons away and stretching her legs still sore from all that running. Taking long strides to stand towering over the girl now in a fetal position,” Not so cocky now are you?”

Tracer didn’t seem to notice her, or tried desperately to ignore her as she struggled to stay in one place. Shaking terribly as random surges of electricity shot through her body in a moment of reality.

Sombra shook it off, she might have nightmares later but that was a problem for just that. Later. She winked and blew a kiss down at the girl as she turned on her heel to walk away and leave her for the void to take.

“Cheers lov-”

Not two steps in, her left knee cap exploded as thunder clashed into the sky in a deafening roar. Sombra shrieked, dropping to the ground immediately as her leg screamed in pain. It didn’t take long to figure out who or why. The moment she opened her eyes from the searing pain, not two inches from her face was a familiar heel and a steaming hot barrel of a sniper rifle pressed against her head.

Sombra gulped, struggling to look up from the corner of her eye.

Widowmaker stood there completely silent. Finger grazing over the trigger but her grip was tight, slowly adding pressure, pushing the barrel harder against her flesh.

Tracer tried to scream, to call out, again nothing but ghostly silence as she wept, looking absolutely terrified and reaching out for the sniper, begging. Her lips easy to read, calling out for not the sniper, but the woman and the name she once used.  
  
_Amelie help_

She remained quiet. Glancing at the girl slowly being pulled into the void of time and space, then returned her attention to the hacker.

She said nothing, she didn’t have to. Her eyes narrowed dangerously in such a way Sombra never wished to see again.

Without realizing it or making a true conscious decision, Sombra fingers summoned a screen and flew across the board. Reprogramming and reversing the device in an instant, she reached out and just as before, beams of light from her fingertips to the accelerator returned. Within seconds, the blue hum of the harness returned to it’s rightful place and Tracer returned to reality.

As if she had been drowning, and suddenly returned to the surface, she let out terrible gasp, hacking and coughing as her lungs struggled to relearn how to breathe.

Widow silently waited, staring at the girl for a moment until she had ceased her coughing fit though the shaking remained.

Reaper growled into the comms, Overwatch agents called out for their friend.

Without another word, she kicked Sombra over and dropped her gun into her lap before grabbing her by the collar and shooting a grapple up and away. Leaving Tracer alone to sob and hold onto her harness, the one thing she thought she could count on to keep her safe.

Within minutes, Overwatch was well aware of Sombra.

And they were hunting for her.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The bullshit excuse worked somehow.

Instead of outright killing Overwatch’s best field agent, they inflicted fear into the organization by bringing her down to her knees and crippling her.

Making modifications to the kill switch would be simple enough, it was too good to pass up but too dangerous to use again. Perhaps she could at least turn off that annoying blinking thing she does, keeping her still just long enough to get a good shot in would be more than enough.

The sniper just merely stopped her from finishing the job. Sombra was never one to follow orders anyway. In some sick way, the shadows commanding Talon didn’t care much for the friendly fire. Perhaps it would bring her down a notch, a gentle reminder that she wasn’t as invincible as she assumed herself to be.

And as Sombra sat in the medical wing, being bandaged and drugged. It did just that.

She grumbled to herself in spanish, knowing full well that the doctors there didn’t care for she had to say but just keep their heads down and get the job done.  

_"Stupid love sick spider I swear to God when I see her..."_

But her string of curses were cut short as the temperature of the room dropped dramatically as the sliding doors opened and in walked the assailant herself with intense golden eyes trained and locked onto to Sombra.

“Leave”

Was all she said, and in an instant, the doctors fled out of her way as she made long strides forward.

Sombra rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat carefully to face her as she shrugged,”Look, whatever you have to s-”

Words cut short as a hand clenched around her neck and lifted her out of her bed just enough to slam her against the wall, medical equipment crushed and jammed against her back.

“If you **ever** touch her again, I would love to see you hack your way out of things when you’re paralyzed from the neck down”

Sombra couldn’t move, she didn’t want to. Her voice came out almost like a low snarl, grip around her was tight but shaking in fury, furrowed brows and face pulled into a fierce scowl she was more than angry. She could see it in her eyes.

For a brief moment, she actually believed that Sombra wouldn’t do it.

A moment longer and that was it, she dropped her hand, turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Sombra to slump back into bed with a short coughing fit as air returned to her lungs, holding her neck and feeling a bruise beginning to form.

Just like that she was gone.

She couldn’t say she was surprised by this reaction, in all honesty she was more than thrilled to see more emotions that she so vehemently denied in having. The poor spider was in so deep and refuses to acknowledge it.

Her nails let out a soft glow as she summoned her personal stash of screens and hexagonally shaped information, her fingers flashing over files until reaching the deepest, most encrypted and heavily secured, no greater power on this Earth could retrieve it. Within it, were her photos taken from hacked security cameras or the occasional drone that went on random field trips to find out where the spider was running off to. With a flick of the wrist, she found the one photo that she claimed to be her favorite, Widow herself requested it to be sent to her as it seemed to hers as well.

Where within the Moscow Hotel, the blinds were open just enough to spot the annoying british girl, lying still for once, face buried in her own arms and sleeping soundly on her stomach. While Widow remained awake, silent and expressionless as her fingers traced the cylinder anchor embedded in her back, the soft blue light illuminating her face that seemed to be lost in thought.

Sombra sighed and shook her head.

“You’ve dug your own grave my friend, but I wonder….when the time comes...who will be the one to pull the trigger?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their relationship was always complicated, somehow it just got worse and somehow they're going to make it work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by @quantummeganics who commissioned me to write about whatever I wanted so here we are!

The first time Lena arrived at the Hotel Moscow she nearly refused to go in. 

 

When it was first suggested to meet at a hotel to avoid being…”interrupted” on the battlefield so often, she blindly agreed to anything she had to say. Granted she was distracted by those silky words and soft touch, not realizing that the sniper had very expensive tastes. Not that this wasn’t surprising at all, she was still an assassin and spy and had the necessary funds and multiple identities to do so very easily without Talon being aware. 

 

Lena however wasn’t so fortunate, getting herself out there without causing suspicion was hard enough, making up names of friends who didn’t exist to visit.

 

A part of her wondered if it was a way to make it less dirty, meeting somewhere nice rather than a random motel just to get off. 

 

Eventually she slowly made her way inside, Lena’s head unconsciously shrunk lower and lower into her shoulders. Marble floor so polished she could see her reflection, beautiful crystal chandeliers that seemed to be looming over her, and gorgeous artwork that felt like were watching her every movement with even more gorgeous people dressed to kill in the lobby doing the same. Probably senators or actors? She couldn’t tell, too busy keeping her eyes down at her scuffed boots, holding her coat closed tight around her chest as she quickly made her way to the front desk. 

 

“I uh... Ya... vstre...ch-chayuss miss Nina Petrov?” 

 

The poor clerk should have been awarded a medal for not laughing, bearing witness to the butchering of his language, he nodded politely at her sad attempt and gave her a room key before slowly pointing to the elevators. 

 

Which was possibly the longest elevator ride of her life, honestly did she purposely pick the top floor? Was this a sniper thing? To be on top all the time? 

 

Lena snorted at her own joke, earning a few disgusted looks from other hotel guests. 

 

When she finally arrived, she stopped in front of the door at the very end of the hall to do a small pep talk and breathing exercises before entering. This wasn’t their first time sleeping together, they had multiple times at Lena’s apartment which earned her several noise complaints. Widow of course offered to have her neighbors permanently silenced but that wasn’t an option, and doing it while working usually ended up being interrupted or too quick to enjoy it. 

 

Thus this was the best option. 

 

But there was something….intimate about meeting like this. 

 

One would argue that they weren’t getting it anywhere else but the fact that she built a new identity, to reserve a suite in the most beautiful and expensive part of Russia just to meet just seemed like a lot of work to get laid.

 

It didn’t help that she fought so hard to not get attached, or to not hold onto the hope that maybe she was finally breaking and feeling something other than base needs, but as she opened the door, pausing a moment to take in the beautiful room she found her breath instantly stolen away by a slim figure in a nightgown beyond open french doors, quietly leaning against the railing of the balcony outside. 

 

Of course it was snowing, it was beyond freezing but there she was wearing next to nothing, feeling nothing but the glass of wine in her grasp, watching the sun go down over the horizon and one by one the city lit up in it’s absence. Lena immediately dropped her bag, pulling her gun out from the waistline of her pants seeing she was unarmed and this wasn’t an elaborate trap, she could never be too careful when it came to the sniper. 

 

“Miss Petrov huh?” she began, slowly making her way outside, clutching her coat tighter. 

 

She hummed, the tiniest of smiles gracing the corner of her lips as Lena stood beside her,“How’s your Russian?”  
  
  
“Uz...hasnnee…?” her voice raised in pitch as her doubt did, she sighed and laughed at herself,”Terrible, absolutely terrible” 

 

For the first time in weeks, they fell into a comfortable silence, no explosions, commanders screaming orders, or gun fire. It was peaceful here, the threat of war always looming around the corner but in this moment, the two sworn enemies stood side by side in a time of calm. 

 

Not that this was the point of this venture, Widow quickly downed the rest of her glass and sighed in content. Finally glancing over her shoulder at the short girl with that look in her eye that instantly shot chills up her spine despite being outside in the middle of Russian weather.  

 

“Get inside before you start sniffling” she said, returning to the suite and making a line straight for the wine bottle with Lena immediately at her heels.

 

“Aw you do care” she laughed, quickly shutting the balcony doors. Her coat dropped from her shoulders, puddling in front of the doors and exposing the harness strapped securely around her chest like usual as she made her way towards her. 

 

Without uttering a word, Widow lifted a wineglass up now full. 

 

Lena gently grasped the glass and turned around, taking small sips while the sniper skillfully unbuckled the clasps and straps of the accelerator from her body in a beautiful yet terrifyingly silent understanding.

 

“I’d rather have you not full of snot tonight” 

 

Lena shrugged, lips parting from the glass just a moment to lift her arms, allowing more access to remove the harness,“That’s fair”

 

She let out a long sigh as the last strap was undone, metal and leather thumping together as it was tossed aside on the couch, she rolled her shoulders and stiff neck as the pressure was finally relieved. But the glass was swiped from her grasp as a cool arm slinked around her waist, pulling her back to collide into a silky nightgown. Suddenly it was extremely warm in here, even as cold lips brushed against the side of her ear. 

 

“I have you, all to myself, all night, in the tallest building in the country, in the most sound proof room available, I have every intention of using it” 

 

* * *

 

They met like this once a week. 

 

Under the same name, different times, one patiently waiting for the other, neither Overwatch or Talon questioned it. They knew it wouldn’t last forever but each time they treated it as if it were their last.

 

But seemingly overnight, Widow began treating it as if the world itself would burn at any given moment. Not a second to spare to relax or wind down, the moment the lock on the door whirred and hummed to open, a cold hand reached out and grabbed a shirt full before yanking her into the room and crushing her lips against hers.   

 

Which at first was exciting, lips locked in a messy and feverish manner, ripping clothes off the other and tossing it aside while struggling to walk towards something, anything to hold onto, knocking things over in the process, the bar, tables and walls. Anywhere other than the bed actually. 

 

But slowly Lena began to realize something was wrong. 

 

All of the windows were closed shut, locked and blinds sealed. Most electronics, computers, phones and the like were turned off or unplugged completely. 

 

“Are...you ok luv?” she asked quietly, noting the lost look in her eyes as she stared blankly at the soft blue light in her chest.

 

Her hesitation to answer brought a painful uncertainty to settle in her gut. The gentle glow of her anchor illuminating her face, she looked distraught and unsure. 

 

“Go to sleep cherie”  she said finally, leaning over to place a quick peck on the lips before nudging at her shoulder. 

 

She could have fought it, she normally did but there was something behind her eyes she just couldn’t read. Not yet perhaps. 

 

Lena rolled over to lie on her stomach, immediately burrowing her face into her arms as slender fingers ran through her brown mane of hair, instantly bringing forth a haze of sleep with each tug and stroke. It didn’t take long for her to be unconscious, it never did, either it was the large bed and even bigger blankets that provided weight and warmth to never leave ever again, and possibly being undone a few times one right after another into exhaustion helped. 

 

But Widow remained awake, lying on her side with her elbow propped up as her hands continued to unconsciously thread themselves into her thick locks. While her free hand slowly tugged the covers downwards, just below her shoulders to see the other half of the anchor. 

 

The device embedded in her body meant to keep her from drifting away. 

 

Her fingers traced the cold cylinder, slowly circling around, watching the faded shadows accentuate every movement.

 

She always wondered just how it worked, how such a small thing was able to master time and space it seemed. But after seeing the blueprints herself and in the hands of a smug grin and uncertain allegiances, she wished she hadn’t.

 

Widow leaned in and placed a kiss directly above the anchor before settling in, pulling the covers back over her shoulders and over her head, in case a pair of unwanted eyes were watching. Not at all caring that the soft light was now much brighter in the darkness of blankets she placed her cheek against her skin, and listening to her breathe and soon fell asleep to the sound of her heartbeat. 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Within minutes Overwatch was aware of Sombra. 

 

And as Winston returned to based, cradling the girl in his arms who remained unnaturally silent, the entire organization made it a priority to find her. 

 

They found Lena on the roof beside the hangar, twitching and shaking uncontrollably, clutching the light at the center of her chest as if it were too tight as she struggled to breathe. Panting heavily, each breath a lungful of air coming out in shakey wisps of air and whimpers. 

 

Several feet away, a puddle of blood and a signature sniper’s bullet lodged in the floor beside it.

 

They called her name but she didn’t move or acknowledge them, even as he carefully scooped her up in his arms. She curled inward, holding herself as she fought to find a pattern to breathe normally, her eyes seemingly glazed over in shock or fear.

 

No one asked a single question, not after a quick stern look from the large gorilla or worried doctor right on his heels. 

 

“Lena? Lena can you hear us?” Angela asked quietly as he placed her down on the bed in the medical wing.

 

Not so surprising she said nothing, curled up and clutching her chest keeping her eyes trained on the light glowing like normal. 

 

Winston huffed, pulling up his computer to check on the chronal accelerator while Angela struggled to get some kind of response. Pulling the goggles from her eyes, she checked her temperature, the iris of her eyes via flash light but she remained completely still. 

 

“She’s in shock” Angela sighed, her fingers gently stroking the large bangs out of her lost eyes. She hadn’t seen Lena like this since the Slipstream accident, lost to the void for so long she was unable to function in reality and suddenly she had reverted back to the scared girl all those years ago. 

 

“...what...the...look at this” Winston mumbled, turning the screen around to show the doctor.

 

Although complicated coding was just a touch out of her knowledge, she could program Lena’s Accelerator in her sleep, she made it a priority to do so as it was concerning her health. But as her eyes scanned the patterns of numbers, she immediately spotted traces of...something. Spots of purple, as if there was once a mess and cleaned up in a hurry, leaving bits and pieces behind. 

 

Angela stared at the screen, then slowly looked down at the girl. 

 

“Did this...Sombra do something to the accelerator?” 

 

“Not just the accelerator, she hacked the anchor” 

 

Lena visibly flinched at his words. 

 

“I’m so...stupid...I should have known better...this hacker broke into my systems...of course she took intel about this” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses in frustration. 

 

“Lena...I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have sent you out there” 

 

But she said nothing. 

 

He vowed to increase the security on all of Overwatch tech, upgrade her harness to further protect her anchor anything and everything to prevent it from ever happening again. But she didn’t move or acknowledge his words. Even as the two worked endlessly around her, scrambling to keep true to their promise, commanding all tech to be upgraded and tighten security. 

 

She remained in her fetal position, staring at nothing, limp and lifeless as the sun set and Angela carefully removed her shoes to bring up the blankets over her waist. 

 

It wasn’t until the small click of a strap being undone did she jerk into consciousness, sitting up and scrambling away with her arms wrapped around herself in a tight hold to keep the device against her body. Both Angela and Winston back away, hands up and watching her carefully. True deja vu appearing before them, reacting the same as when they had saved her the first time from the void of time and space. 

 

“Easy Lena, you need to rest and I need to reprogram the accelerator” he stated in a very calm manner. But it seemed to do very little, she shook her head and whimpered incoherent words. 

 

“Shhh shhh it’s ok you’re safe” Angela tried, slowly moving in closer, gently holding the girl’s face for a moment. She offered a small smile of reassurance,”You’re not going anywhere” 

 

It took a bit of coaxing but somehow Winston managed to remove the harness from her, though the moment it dropped from her body she immediately grabbed onto Angela as if the void would take her again. 

 

She remained still, letting her hold onto her arms in a tight and desperate grip, it took her years to trust the anchor enough to remove its protective device to sleep. It would appear that they were now right back to square one as she shook and fought tears, feeling extremely vulnerable without it. 

 

“There you go, see? Your beautiful blue light still here” she said gently, pointing to the anchor embedded in her chest, still glowing faintly through her jacket. 

 

“How are you feeling?” 

 

Finally after hours of looking like the ghost she nearly became, she stared up at Angela with tears threatening to spill over. 

 

“...I...really...hate that bitch” 

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Lena turned in her report, detailed descriptions of Sombra’s appearance, technology, weapons and fighting style. Obviously there were holes in her story that she couldn’t disclose, like the mysterious puddle of blood and bullet. She was too busy fading in and out of reality to see what happened to Sombra or how she got away. At least that’s what she told them. 

 

But she saw it. With her own eyes she saw the timestream fritz and contort, watching in slow motion as the bullet sliced straight through the back of Sombra’s knee, watching her face slowly shift from a smirk to a horrified shriek in pain. 

 

And watched as Widowmaker descended upon the bleeding woman like a plague of Egypt, looming over her with her gun pressed against Sombra’s face, finger grazing the trigger. Saying nothing but speaking volumes as her presence alone was like a snowstorm of frost, piercing eyes sending the smug hacker into a panic. Not a single word uttered and she commanded the woman to bring Tracer back into reality without a question. 

 

As strange as their relationship could be, this was by far the nicest thing she had ever done for Lena. 

 

But this brought up something Lena realized as she lay awake in her apartment, staring at the ceiling lit up by the bright light in her chest, surrounded by multiple pillows to support the upgraded accelerator she refused to take off. The straps were pulled in so tight the leather dug into her skin, bruises already forming and swelling but she didn’t care, she needed to feel the security as a thought dawned on her. 

 

She knew. 

 

Widowmaker knew Sombra had this knowledge and failed to see the importance of informing her. 

 

* * *

 

Talon didn’t see Tracer for a week. 

 

Under normal circumstances, Sombra would take full advantage of this and she had it all thought out too. Casually sidle up beside the sniper as she quietly peered through the scope scanning the skyline,’Looking for those bright yellow legs amiga?’ she would say with a grin on her lips, Widow would probably say nothing or roll her eyes. 

 

But she never did. 

 

Each time they went out on a mission, Sombra would bite her lip, restraining herself from making any snide comments and each time she found the tall woman subtly looking out for Tracer. Upon finding no obnoxious giggle or blur of blue, her shoulders would sag and just the slightest curl of her brows forward in a small frown.

 

A part of her felt bad, the excitement of the kill was gone from her golden eyes, looking bored and devoid of a purpose, feeling nothing but the recoil of her gun but mainly Sombra still had a slight limp in her leg that would pulse with pain every time Widowmaker so much as glanced in her direction. 

 

However tonight, she couldn’t not talk to her. They were positioned together in an abandoned warehouse, miles from the location of tonight’s target for this particular mission, possibly out of spite as Reaper couldn’t take another moment with the talkative woman. 

 

“Wow...it’s pretty boring tonight isn’t it?” she grumbled, flopping over flat on her front next to Widow who remained completely still, on her stomach, gun aimed and visor over her eyes. She had been this way completely still for an hour. 

 

Of course she immediately regretted her choice of words the moment they left her mouth as Widow’s frozen state only accentuated her frown.

 

“I wonder why” she said, no emotion or life in her voice brought a slight chill up her leg. 

 

But Sombra was always one for living on the edge and decided to figuratively (but hopefully not) bite the bullet. 

 

“...it couldn’t have been that bad right?” 

 

She was just full of bad ideas today. One of the first things that popped up when researching the annoying english woman was her medical history of PTSD and Depression, chances are she was missing in action not because of injuries. 

 

This of course, Widow knew fully well. 

 

In which she let out a long sigh from her nose, forcing herself to keep her eyes on the target and not strike the idiot beside her. 

 

“...maybe I should send flowers…” she mumbled under her breath, tapping her chin in thought,”...she still live in King’s Row?” 

 

“You must really dislike your other knee” 

 

Sombra immediately sat up and scooted away, “Whooooooa ok ok maybe….maybe you should then?” she laughed, hoping to defuse the ticking time bomb in front of her. 

 

It was a joke. She had every intention of it being so, yet Widow remained silent. Though not out of annoyance or impatience, she actually hummed to herself in thought as if actually considering the idea. 

 

Sombra nearly jumped out of her skin as the rifle let out a terrible roar without warning, one shot and the visor retracted from her eyes as she stood up. Sombra’s ears were ringing, barely catching the words being spoken to her as the sniper walked away. 

 

“Target is neutralized. I’m leaving” 

 

Sure enough, the Talon comms began to chatter, sending in troops to clean up but by then Widowmaker was on her way to London. 

 

* * *

 

Initially she was surprised to find the balcony doors locked. 

 

Since they made it quite clear what their relationship consisted of getting handsy whenever possible, Lena usually kept it unlocked specifically for the sniper who would sometimes come in an odd hours of the evening. Though Lena never did find out she had been using it even when she wasn’t home, to eat, rest on the couch, shower, generally making herself at home. She would always replenish whatever she used if it wasn’t her own, covering her tracks, if Lena ever did find out, it would only make her appear to be a hypocrite. After all this time of demanding there be no attachments, her own arguments were getting weak. 

 

Not that it was difficult to get in, she had broken into banks and didn’t take a single thing just to see the people scramble for fun but the notion of it being locked was staggering. 

 

She could have picked it with her eyes closed, sliding the glass door aside and brushing past the curtains slipped shut in front of it. But as she slid it closed behind her, the bedroom door slammed shut. 

 

Her brows furrowed for a moment, heels clicking as she slowly made her way across the wooden floors of the living room towards the bedroom. 

 

A silence sat between them, she could just barely make out the soft ragged breathing on the side of the door. 

 

“You knew this whole time and didn’t think to tell me?” she hissed. 

 

Widow blinked back in surprise, that’s what this was about. She shook her head and forced out a pitiful chuckle. 

 

“And what would you do if you had this information? Tell your comrades the enemy you’re sleeping with told you?” 

  
“Just a little heads up would have been nice! I don’t expect you to understand but I’m not a fan being lost to the void of time and space!” she screamed, her voice quivering with anger. 

 

Widow stood there, silently listening to the girl on the other side sniffling quietly to herself. 

 

“God...I hate this...I hate feeling so….scared” she whimpered softly.

 

It would appear that Sombra would be become well acquainted with her rifle before the week was done. 

 

“Let me see you” she meant it to be a demand, but the request came out much softer than intended. 

 

Several long seconds passed but soon the doorknob slowly turned and opened. Lena stood in the doorway, making no hurried motions to wipe the tear stained cheeks, it was easy to tell she had been crying for awhile. The bags under her eyes, disheveled hair and pjs, she was a mess. 

 

“You look terrible” she murmured, immediately standing before her with her hands grasping her face, studying her eyes and brushing away the obnoxious bangs away from them. 

 

“Yeah well...it’s been a rough week…” she huffed, letting her continue her inspection with no resistance,“She didn’t hurt me much” 

 

“Good” 

 

“What else does she know?” 

 

“Everything” 

 

“So...what she can just, kill me anytime she wants now?” 

 

“Not anymore” 

 

A short pause. 

 

“...thank you” 

 

She followed her golden eyes as they trailed downward, obviously noticing the accelerator was back on her body despite being home and safe. Clearly she didn’t think so anymore, and this made her frown. 

 

“....is she why you unplugged the refrigerator at the hotel?” 

 

“Oui” 

 

“....she can hack a fridge?” 

 

“I’ve seen a toaster explode on someone she disliked” 

 

Lena would have laughed, had she not been the toaster a week ago.

 

“...I’ll close the blinds then” 

 

It took some coaxing, but she managed to convince Lena to remove the device for the night. It took the unplugging of most if not all electronics with the exception of the fridge. She had her left over lunch in there and it was a risk she was going to make.

 

“Are you absolutely one hundred percent sur-” her words were silenced with a quick but surprisingly gentle kiss. 

 

“I told you everything I know, what more do you want” she huffed, reaching over to carefully tuck the girl in before pulling the blankets over her shoulder. 

 

Lena grumbled to herself as she sunk further into bed, her arms and legs wrapped securely around her cold body as if to replace the accelerator’s protective hull. It wasn’t a luxury hotel or bed but it was home, and for the first time in days she felt safest with the most dangerous woman in the world.  

 

“I don’t know…” 

 

“Go to sleep cherie” 

 

Her phone chimed as a new email was sent but the two were lost to the world of sleep, tomorrow Lena would wake up well rested and ready to return to the fight. But nearly drop her phone in the sink as she opens the attached file and realize an anonymous person sent her a photo of Lena sleeping soundly in the Hotel Moscow weeks ago, with Widowmaker leaning in and placing a kiss just above her anchor with the smallest smile on her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure where I'm gonna go with this story in general but hey, let's see where the wind is gonna take us yeah?


	4. Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For now.

**Winston! Come in! Talk to me!**

 

**Security is on the fritz**

 

Lena felt her stomach turn to stone, “Oh just my luck…” 

 

**I’m trying to counter it. Otherwise, we’re going to have company real soon**

 

**Roger that.**

 

Pharah sighed, but straightened her shoulders and jammed her helmet over her eyes before turning around to face her team. 

 

“Everyone spread out, I want all possible openings on lockdown. We need to get the officers and governor out of here”

 

Within seconds, each overwatch agent had weapons drawn and shields up in front of important officials that had become targets, ready for a possible ambush. 

 

Pharah loaded her weapon as she made her way to the flanker extraordinaire,“Tracer...”

 

She grinned after doing a couple of squats and leg stretching, it had been a month since she had been out on the field, not since her last run in with Talon’s new set of eyes and ears. It left her paranoid and anxious beyond repair, but her itch to return to the fight and the chance for payback was enough to convince her friends to let her on the plane. 

But now that there was a true possibility of the hacker being there, she might have some second thoughts. 

 

Regardless, she stood before the blue suit and saluted,“I’m on it!”

 

“Hey hold it!” she didn’t get three steps out before a strong hand reached out and yanked her back by the arm. But the moment she was close enough, her once commanding voice of authority softened. 

 

“Lena, I’m serious. Are you sure you’re fine? We both know she’s out there” 

 

Her shoulder’s visibly sagged, of course she wasn’t fine but she had a job to do. 

 

“I can’t keep hiding”

 

Pharah nodded, offering a small smile beneath her helm,“Call us if you need back up. Everyone has a backup anchor on them. If you start fading, one of these will keep you on the ground until we get the spare from the jet. Alright?”

 

Angela would kill them both for letting Lena come along, but she at least knew how to cover her bases. Lena fought the urge to cry as she held a small miniature version of her anchor in her palm,“Thank you Fareeha” 

 

With a nod, she slapped her shoulder, nearly sending the smaller girl flying, “Go give em hell” 

 

The large conference room had two major openings, both of which had triple thick blast doors that could double as a nuclear bunker. Getting through wasn’t worth it, instead chances are the hacker on the other side some disabled the lockdown and now they began to open.

 

“Ready?” 

 

Zarya decided to be the caller today as Tracer rotated her neck and shook each leg out before taking a sprinter’s position. 

 

“On your mark” 

 

The doors hissed and roared as it opened, letting in a ray of light from the outside that grew as it slowly rose. 

 

“Set” 

 

They could clearly see twenty or so foot soldiers just on the other side. 

 

“GO”

 

The doors were not even half way open and Tracer was off like a shot, sliding underneath the slowly raising doors and right past every single Talon soldier who blinked once and only saw a blur of a person. She laughed as she reappeared behind them, letting loose a spray of bullets and scattered their forces, distracted long enough to not notice the doors were open and a very large man with a very large shield and a mighty laugh was behind them. 

 

Leaving the poor fools at the hands, or hammer, of Reinhardt she took off reporting everything in sight to her team. 

 

**Small compact turrets, second level to the left.**

 

**Three snipers. None of em important but keep an eye out.**

 

**Our way out will be clear assuming air support-**

 

Within seconds, any drones or airborne enemies were shot out of the sky by rockets, turrets were blown apart by gravitational blasts, and snipers were sent running with fire shot from a hammer towards them followed by a deep laugh. 

**Looks great guys! I’ll double check the perimeter.**

 

**We are taking off in ten**

 

**Roger!**

 

She grinned, standing tall at the top of a satellite tower, watching her team march towards the plane, civilians huddled behind Reinhardt’s shield while Zarya watched his back and theirs. Pharah took to the sky surveying the area and promptly dispatching of any enemies caught under her eagle like gaze. 

 

Tracer was back and god it felt good. Inhaling a lung full of that beautiful government facility smell before leaping from her perch and returned to do her checks. Blinking across the sky and around the compound, until her watch and chest beeped frantically. 

 

Forcing herself into a sliding halt she stared down at her watch that kept a very accurate gauge on how much power she had left on the accelerator but found it frozen like a busted computer. 

 

“Wh...what wait I thought I charged this before I…” 

 

But then she looked down at herself, finding a familiar shade of purple light that seemed to wrap around her chest. Her heart sank. 

 

“No...no no no no not again” 

 

She quickly slapped her arm and called out to her team over the comms but only hear static in her ear. 

 

“Ah ah, don’t be rude” 

 

Tracer froze, feeling her blood run cold in fear but her heart thumping out of her chest, wanting nothing more than to smack that smug grin right off her face the moment she saw it as she turned around. 

 

She must have been behind her for awhile, judging by the way she looked bored, checking her wrist as if she had her own watch. 

 

“You” she hissed. 

 

“Hola~” 

 

Her pistols were up and aimed straight at Sombra, but as she put her hands in the air in defense, she couldn’t find a single weapon in her hand. Granted she didn’t need one to cause damage. 

 

“Easy speedy, you’re not going anywhere. Literally and figuratively” she shrugged, her finger pointing at her chest where the purple haze of light continued to circle around her body. 

 

Tracer stared at her for a long moment, so caught up in her anger she didn’t realize she was still, in fact, here. It was difficult to explain, how she could just, will herself into blinking across an entire city in a matter of seconds and recalling right back in even less time. But as the purple light held onto her, it felt like a blockage. Something breaking her connection from the harness but the anchor was still alive in well in her chest. 

 

“You...just…” 

 

“I downgraded. You won’t be doing that...what do you call it? Blink? Real creative there mija.” she shrugged, crossing her arms and casually leaning against the wall, “But you can relax, you’re staying in this timeline” 

 

Tracer stared at her for a moment, the last time they saw each other she was on the brink of fading away into another reality while Sombra stood over her and laughed. 

 

“What do you want” 

 

“Nothing. Just to show you what my new toy can do” she laughed, waving her fingers just slightly, the communications hummed in her ear as the signal continued to be jammed,“So you can come out and play with us. We miss you” 

 

Immediately, Tracer’s eyes went upwards, searching the highest point in the area and…

 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end; against her better judgement she smiled. 

 

“How’s your leg?”

 

Sombra’s smile dropped like a sack of bricks. 

 

“I don’t get what she sees in you” she says so suddenly Tracer nearly stepped back as she pushed herself from the wall and walked over to her, with each step the playful tone in her voice trailed away into something deeper, ”Sex must be that good eh?” 

 

“I’m not discussing this with you. Clearly you’ve seen enough to know” 

 

She let out a fake gasp, “Don’t you kinkshame me!” 

 

“Are we done here?” 

 

Sombra just laughed, a sad pitiful chuckle as she shook her head, taking long strides to circle her but Tracer remained utterly still, watching her from the corner of her eye, standing tall and refusing to be some naive victim of her blackmail and shady words, not this time. 

 

“I’ll have you know, that photo is one of her favorites” she teased, stopping right next to her to whisper just over her shoulder, “I’ll send you more if you want...” 

 

Tracer rolled her eyes, waving her away like annoying fly,“What is your deal? What do you want?” 

 

“I want a lot of things” she shrugged, continuing her shark circling until she stood right in front of her,“But right now, I need to make nice because I happen to like using my legs” she hissed out of gritted teeth, knowing full well that she was in the cross hairs of a scope miles away. 

 

The scope might be on her, but not a mic. 

 

“But if it were up to me” she muttered under her breath as she leaned in dangerously close, Tracer didn’t move,”I would have let the universe suck you back and not have to worry about you ever again”

 

At this, Tracer found herself chuckled, ironically however. She hated how this hacker made her feel, her smug over confident attitude made it easy to get a rise of just unbridled anger out of her. She spent the last month alone in her room, unable to sleep as the nightmares and insomnia returned in full force. What took her years to feel comfortable enough to remove the harness without the fear of being dragged away into another realm, all of that went down the drain in one single moment.  

 

“Good to the know the feeling is mutual” she said while putting on her best smile “Also you should move, to the right. Now”

 

Before she could ask, she obeyed, dropping to her knees and moving over the right just in time for a bullet to whiz past her ear. Sombra immediately scrambled over to hide behind Tracer, clutching her shoulders as a string of curses in spanish rolled out of her mouth.  

 

“Jesus christ...do you both get off on this?!” she screamed, lifting her hand just next to Tracer’s face to ensure she wouldn’t be shot when she flipped the bird in the general direction of the gunshot. 

 

“Don’t you kinkshame us now”

 

“You both are insane” 

 

The ground shook as distant engines roared to life, her team was getting ready to leave. 

 

Sombra waited a few seconds before stepping out and away from her meat shield. 

 

“She can’t protect you forever” she mumbled, rolling her wrist and fanning her fingers out to retrieve the purple haze placed around Tracer’s body. Soon there wasn’t a splash of purple on her and the connection returned, between her and the accelerator. Also the communications signal returned and Tracer got an earful of Pharah screaming orders and demanding a response. 

 

“You’re both doomed” 

 

“We know” 

 

But Sombra only shook her head, letting out a long sigh but strangely, found herself smiling. Not in an mischievous or conniving way, it was almost pity if she squinted, ”Until next time speedy” 

 

She raised her hand, then slowly brought it down over her face, seemingly making herself disappear from head to toe.

 

If she really wanted to, she could hear the faint pitter patter of Sombra running off. But she let her go, no point in staying any longer than she needed to with an unarmed enemy. For now. 

 

Tracer sighed, sending a quick message to her team that she was alright and on her way.

 

But before doing just that she stopped and looked up, finding the tiniest glint of shine from a scope in the sun. 

 

Bringing a hand to her lip, she blew a kiss to the sniper in the distance and ran off to join her team. 

 

She would find out later they were short one politician via a hole in the head. 

 

**Was that shot really necessary?**

 

Widowmaker smiled as she watched the girl run off towards the plane. 

 

**I believe I made myself quite clear before**

 

She hummed to herself, slipping her rifle over her shoulder and making her way off the roof. 

 

**I don’t share.**

 

Sombra sighed into the comm, her voice quiet and full of worry before cutting off their single link. 

 

**Don’t say I didn’t warn either of you.**

 

She paused for a moment, slipping behind a building as the Overwatch plane flew overhead. 

 

“I know…” she mumbled under her breath, pulling out an old flip phone and sending out a quick message. 

 

Later that evening they would meet again, in the middle of Russia’s harsh winter, in its greatest hotel on the highest floor, on top of the world. This time the blinds will be open, unapologetic and uncaring for who sees. 

 

It would only end in tragedy but all they could do was make it last while they could until then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end for this one c: Thank you all for your lovely comments and messages! Time to move on to the next adventure!


	5. Disassociate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cruelest of irony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Commissioned by elrojocapucha who asked:  
> What would happen to Sombra if her Translocator malfunctioned? Isn’t her technology similar to Tracer?

“It’s too risky.” 

 

**I’m taking heavy fire!**

  
“Science requires risks.”

  
**Hellloooo? Is anyone there?!**

  
“She knew the risks when she failed the mission for her own personal gain.”

  
**Gabe?! Anyone!?**

  
“Are you going to stop me?”

Reaper remained quiet for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest in thought but eventually he shrugged,“I warned her.”

Akande nodded, reaching up to his ear piece as Moira grinned devilishly,“Fall back Sombra.”

The hacker on the other end let out a long sigh of annoyance but begrudgingly mumbled her thanks, though they went unheard as Akanade switched to a private channel.

“Take the shot.”

The sniper, hidden somewhere out of sight with her crosshairs dialed in on the lone translocator that Sombra had left behind by their rendezvous point, quietly awaited her orders.

“Nothing personal.”

The small device began to glow a bright purple, indicating Sombra was in mid teleportation when Widowmaker pulled the trigger.

 

* * *

 

The closet thing that she could compare it to was sleeping.

Sometimes you’re aware that you are, your eyes closed and body relaxed as you find the rhythm of unconsciousness, lost in the void of peaceful rest.

Other times you shut your eyes and suddenly time passes by without you, and then you open your eyes and begrudgingly get back to work as usual.

The Translocator, a handheld teleportation device that was able to take her across yards in the blink of an eye came with its risks. Sombra knew that. She’d also witnessed it first hand.

The first time she had hacked her way into Overwatch’s outdated technology datastore, she took every scrap of detail of anything Winston had ever designed while under its banner. Including the bright eyed british mascot.

Photos, schematics, his notes, everything was there.

Even video footage of the Slipstream crash, of the ghost roaming the halls flicking in and out of existence, security cameras trained on the girl as they trapped her in a glass container as scientist after scientist stared at her like an animal they had never before seen as she continued to fade and flicker like a dying candle and of the eventual surgery.

Lena Oxton wrote emmaculate details of her experience as a part of her therapy process, she was never the same after the accident. Her happy face was a mask that fooled many, and if Sombra recalled she still took sleeping pills to avoid the nightmares to this day.

Sombra assumed the scale of the Slipstream core was what made its side effects so intense. Tracer wrote at length about traveling through time and space, out of body experiences with different lives, possibly her own in another universe.

At first Sombra laughed. Perhaps it would be fun to do some time traveling. They seemed more like enjoyable excursions than side effects. However it was Lena’s description of the void that caught her attention.

The closet thing she could compare it to was sleeping.

Sometimes you’re aware, and sometimes it just passes you by.

Lena went on in very few words describing her experience, unlike the pages and pages of her time as a scullery maid. It was very clear, precise and obvious she didn’t want to dwell on it more than she needed to.

‘It was dark and terrible. I was aware and I wish I wasn’t. It felt like I should be able to move but I couldn’t. Like I should be breathing but I couldn’t, and I thought I was dying but I wasn’t... and I wish I was. I wasn’t asleep but I should have been.’

Sombra scoffed at this, the sparse details annoyed her. The lack of information about the risks made her uneasy.

But what was science without its risks?

The teleportation still made her sick but it was well worth it. So she made sure to never recreate the fate of Tracer. Double checking, triple checking the device, constantly inspecting for damage. Always having multiples, always creating better models, rewatching the videos, rereading her story. She left no stone unturned.

It was with the confidence of this knowledge that she disappeared from the barrage of bullets with a smile, and the same confidence that shattered like glass when all that met her on the other side was darkness..  

Void.

Her mind immediately went into a frenzy.

She fought to scream and cry out for back up, for anyone but couldn’t find the voice or breath to do so. Hyper aware that her mind was still intact, still thinking - still knowing- she should be breathing to stay alive, that she should be able to reach out but there was no body to do so.   
  
There were no hands or fingers to feel around, no legs to stand, there was no up or down.

Nothing.

She wanted to cry.

Tracer was stuck in the void for months, disappearing into alternate timelines in between, losing all sense of time. How long would it be before she went somewhere? Would she at all?

How long had it been already?

No she just got here.

Right?

Perhaps she was already dead. There is no god here and this was her fate, floating in limbo for all eternity.

Her mind cried out for a solution. A reason. How did she get here? She triple checked everything. Right?

Reeling back to her memories, confirming that the life she lived was real but the longest she remained in her own thoughts the more she began to question if it all was a dream.

Perhaps she has always been here all along?  


* * *

 

“Her translocation is basic teleportation from one point to another. Retrieving her is simple, the Slipstream incident was on a scale large enough that it sent Oxton into a different timeline completely”

Moira shrugged,”Unfortunate as I would have loved to explore time travel however we can easily locate Miss Colomar and bring her back without much of a fuss thanks to all of her personal research into Overwatch’s mascot”

“Very good but,” Akande paused a moment, glancing up from the mass of papers of research and numbers on Moira’s desk to the corner of her lab currently undergoing construction for reaching into other dimensions for lost souls,”During my last encounter with Tracer, I removed the device strapped to her back and she disappeared immediately afterwards.”

Moira nodded, reaching up to another holoscreen and opening it to reveal security photos from Overwatch’s emergency room. The screen blinked to Tracer unconscious and lying face down as several surgeons and Winston inserted a small cylinder into her spine.

“Since that day, they’ve developed a smaller device that is permanently embedded in her chest and back. The device around it gives her the ability to control her flow of time but otherwise the small device is what actually keeps her in place. We can replicate it, allowing Sombra to stay in our dimension. They call it an anchor.”

Akande scoffed,“I call it blackmail.”

At this she shrugged, brushing aside the photos and finding another screen full of schematics of another device. Once in construction to combat Tracer in the field, it had been shelved when Talon receded into the shadows for a short time. Sombra was successful in continuing where it was left off and had met exceptional success while testing it out. Ironically, it would be used against her now.

“Should she step out of line again...”

Akande sighed, staring at the killswitch for a long moment. He didn’t want it to be like this. She should have just obeyed and completed the mission. He knew her loyalties lay with herself; But he also knew that her work was worth the risks. But now?

At the end of the day she made a choice and so did he.  

“Make it quick, we need her back as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir.”

“O’Deorain.”

The tone of his voice changed, deep and stern as he shot a quick glare at the doctor.

“I mean it, you’ve had your fun. Bring our girl back.”  


* * *

  
It was like looking at the sun.

After so long in the darkness, of feeling nothing, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, in a flash she was suddenly back.

Sombra was flat on her back staring wide eyed as hundreds of bright lights stared down at her. She shrieked, instinctively holding her hands up to block the light from her eyes.

Hands. She had hands again, a body and-

She choked on air, feeling as though she had been drowning for years. She gasped, dry heaving as her heart pounded against her chest as she struggled to remember how to breath how to function.

There were people talking, machinery humming, lights beating down on her in a terrible cacophony of overstimulation after so long of nothing.

“-ivia? Olivia? Can you hear me?” a familiar voice called out, but she couldn’t respond.

Sombra curled up into a fetal position, holding her face from the light and grasping her ears as the noises were growing louder and louder. Her heartbeat pounding against her skull as her breath became ragged, finding some kind of rhythm.

She felt her chest contract painfully, her eyes beginning to sting and blurred until they overflowed with thick tears as she sobbed. Her body quivered as she cried out, screaming into her chamber as doctors and scientists watched on. Quickly scribbling notes as she let out the sound of her own voice she had not heard in so long.  

“Your name is Olivia Colomar, codename Sombra” The voice called out again, at least waiting until she was out of breath before calling out to her,“You work for Talon, you grew up in El Dorado.”

It was cold and blunt.

Sombra fought to control her breathing, furiously wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, finding it gloved. She blinked back in surprise, she was still dressed in her combat gear, the edges of her jacket burnt with her leggings torn in several places and she realized blood was seeping through the thin fabric. As if not a single moment had passed since she was lost, she remembered running away and being shot at.  

“Mmm….” she stopped to cough, spitting off to the side as she rolled over, her arms shaking as she dug her elbow into the ground to sit up,”Mmmm..moir….ra…”

Her head felt heavy but managed to look up and find the familiar smug grin of the tall cynical doctor.

“Hello Olivia, welcome back.”

It took her a moment, to formulate words, to remember how to shape her lips and tongue to speak them.

“How….long…”

“I don’t think it’s wise to-”

Something vile began to rise in her chest, Sombra gritted her teeth as she spat out,“How. Long.”

“Four months.”

In front of some of the greatest minds on the planet, Sombra rolled over and threw up.  


* * *

 

Sombra refused to sleep. She was dehydrated, starving and exhausted - but she refused to return to the darkness again.

Moira was forced to hide sleeping pills into her food. Sombra wasn’t quite the same since she had returned but her stubbornness, unfortunately, was still going strong. However succumbing to the darkness of sleep, she would wake up screaming, nightmares making it impossible to find even the slightest bit of rest.

A part of her thought this was all a dream. Something that her mind had made up and she was still in the void somewhere. Her fingers were always touching something, the cold metal bar on her bed, grasping the thin strands of hair, tugging slightly to feel the sharp pain against her scalp.

Confirming that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t all fake and that she really was back.

“How are you feeling today Olivia?” Moira asked as she usually did, standing tall and straight as a needle with her hands behind her back. Her narrowed eyes examining the holo screens and charts around Sombra’s bed. Taking in the information but never once directly looking at her as she asked her inane questions.

“Just fantastic” Sombra scoffed at the doctor, her purple nails reaching out, scratching the air a couple of times before a fuzzy screen appeared before her fingertips. Her internal hacking system was laggy at best and it was trying her patience, but it was the doctors orders to fully heal from her recent surgery before performing another examination on her technology.

_You should count yourself lucky._

Moira had said, commending herself and her genius to build a smaller version of Overwatch’s anchor.

A fist sized cylinder rested between her breasts, illuminating interdimensional technology to keep Sombra in place whereas Tracer’s went completely through her body. With this, it would not interfere with the small cybernetic enhancements along her spine.  
  
Moira thumbed through the papers as she went through her routine questions, which were replied with equal if not more monotone and dull responses.

“Eating well?”

“Sure”

“Sleeping?”

“Never better”

“Excellent do you need anything?”

“How about answers?” she spat, her eyes desperately looking through her detailed maintenance schedule with every piece of equipment in her possession. 

  
“I check my Translocators everyday.”   


It had been a slow build of quiet anger since she regained fragments of her mind, questions she had asked while trapped in the void returning with a vengeance now with the voice to speak them.

“What happened to me.”

Sombra’s stomach dropped as she turned to glare at the doctor but found her only smiling, casually brushing aside papers with data collected.

Moira waited a long moment before replying, before finally looking at her patient from the corner of her eye.

“I think you’re smart enough to figure that out.”

This would be the one time in history Sombra truly hated being correct. “It was the most logical explanation and yet ...

She didn’t want to believe it.

“You….you did this” she mumbled, nearly gone unheard as she numbly watched Moira as she took her data and walked away.

“Not necessarily.” she shrugged,”The idea might have been mine. it was approved but let’s just say -”

She paused in front of the door, not bothering to look back at Sombra.

“I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger.”  


* * *

 

“ **You**.”

The moment Sombra successfully made it through physical therapy with flying colors, the first thing she did, right as she left the medical wing, was intercept Widowmaker as she was heading down the hall, grabbing her by the suit and slamming her against the wall, pinning her there as she hissed.

Widowmaker’s eyes narrowed in response but she said nothing.

Despite having spent days preparing for this confrontation, Sombra couldn’t formulate the words she had prepared to say as her hands began to shake in anger.

“I can’t...fucking believe you…you….you have...no idea...what I...how could you!?” she screamed, breathing heavily as she held on tightly to the suit, trembling as she fought to keep herself together.

Widowmaker’s eyes softened and Sombra shook even harder at the display of pity from her. “I followed my orders,” She said plainly.  

Sombra’s hands opened and let go of Widow to take a step back. That was it? That was all it took to send her to hell? She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. She wanted to laugh or possibly cry.

“You just...followed orders huh?” she laughed through a choked sob. ”Followed orders...fucking followed...Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?! You could have said something! Could have said no! Said anything!”

Finally Widow’s brow furrowed. She pushed herself from the wall and stepped forward and loomed over Sombra, her voice low and dangerous,“No. No you see Sombra. I could not. That’s how _orders_ work.”

“Bullshit. You just wanted to get back at me for what happened to your fuck-toy.” Sombra spat, refusing to move. She glared at her as she stood her ground, but there was a small part of her that regretted the choice of words. It was too late however. Widowmaker towered over her and narrowed her eyes once more.

“If you want honesty then yes, I enjoyed it. As I recalled you had no problem pulling the trigger on her.”

Sombra gulped, taking a step back as the sniper slowly stepped forward.

“You saw her _disappear_. You _laughed_.”

Sombra stared up at her for a long moment, a pathetic laugh bubbling from her chest as she shook her head, “I shouldn’t be surprised but...I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty hurt. You’re not even sorry are you?”

“I’m not.” As much as she was expecting the response, it still hurt. However, much to her surprise, Widow let out a long sigh and looked away,”But I didn’t enjoy waiting for you to come back.”

Sombra blinked at her.

“You...wh-”

“We all waited.”

Akande stood there for hours, his small team of researchers loyal to Talon working diligently assuming he was watching their progress despite his eyes remaining focused on the empty chamber.

Reaper spent the most amount of time there, usually at night when only Moira was on duty. She said nothing to him as he eventually would grumble to himself after an unsuccessful sighting and disappear as a disgruntled puff of smoke.

Widowmaker was the first one to see something, mostly because she knew what to look for. A broken light, a dying candle of a person lying completely still, eye wided and staring at nothing, appearing only for the briefest of moments before disappearing.

“I don’t get you. You don’t care, none of you care. If you did you wouldn’t have sent me into- into _that_..”

“You made your choice, and we followed orders. That doesn’t mean we wanted to.”

Sombra shook her head as she laughed,“Fucking ridiculous...so...now what? Are we supposed to move on like nothing happened? I haven’t slept in days, I can’t eat without getting sick, I still think I’m somewhere else and this is fucking dream. I can’t function - what the hell am I supposed to do or feel or be?”

Widowmaker stared at her for a moment, with just the tiniest raise of her brow.

“I hate you so much.”  


* * *

 

**Ok team we are expecting heavy Talon resistance. Tracer, keep them off us while we retrieve the payload.**

  
“You got it!”

Simple enough she thought, and so did the rest of her team until the ever familiar crack of sniper rifle thunder called out to her.

A moment of silence hung heavy in the air as Tracer’s eyes immediately to a rooftop in the distance, immediately knowing exactly where she was waiting for her.  

**  
Tracer…**

  
“I’m...going to...stop the evil evil sniper from shooting my best mates!“ she coughed into her comms, hoping to distract from that shudder along her spine.

**  
And you will report to my office as soon as this mission is over are we clear?**

  
“Yes sir of course!”

Jack couldn’t see the wide grin on her face as she blinked up a building. These meetings were well worth the scoldings.  

However as she quickly scaled to one rooftop and blink across to another, much to her surprise and confusion, Widowmaker wasn’t there. Tracer froze in the middle of the roof, nervously looking around. Perhaps she was actually fooled this time. She had finally became too comfortable in their routine to sneak away and now her friends could possibly be in serious danger.

However her doubt was temporarily siderailed as something collided into her right cheek, knocking her flat on her back as she stumbled and fell, unprepared. She groaned in pain tenderly feeling her jaw and sitting up just in time to see the empty space before her fade into a silhouette standing in front of her.

Tracer blinked back a few times before recognizing the purple hacker, her fists clenched and teeth gritted, something feral in her eyes.

“Oh blimey it’s yo-”

Before she could even finish Sombra screamed, whipping out her gun from her belt and pulling the trigger.

Tracer yelped and blinked away as a spray of bullets were hot on her heels but seemed to be blindly firing, “Whoa whoa whoa what is your _deal_ today?!”  
  
Sombra said nothing, sprinting forward with her gun out and firing in Tracer’s general direction just to get her in the right position. But Tracer was faster, and despite her confusion, she  lined herself up to make a break for the next rooftop.

Sombra couldn’t make that jump, perhaps she could if she threw the Translocator and teleported over using the momentum but since she returned to the real world, she had absolutely refused to touch one.

Widowmaker knew that.

Another crack of thunder rang out as a bullet buried itself into the ground just inches from Tracer’s feet forcing her to skid to a halt.

The girl looked up at into the distance baffled out of her mind but failed to notice that Sombra had thrown all caution and sense into the wind and tackled her to the ground.

Somewhere miles away Widowmaker quietly watched through a scope as Sombra mindlessly threw her gun aside and pummeled the girl beneath her.

“You and your...fucking smile and your stupid attitude!” she cried out with while punching, each weaker than the last.

Tracer had been struck in the face by the butt of Widow’s rifle on a regular basis. This didn’t hurt as much, but there was something so desperate about this assault she couldn’t bring herself to retaliate but hold her arms up and block.

Unsatisfied and exhausted, Sombra let out a roar of frustration and slammed her hand against the Chronal Accelerator. Her fingers dug into the metal as purple light surged down from her arm and shot into Tracer’s chest. Lines of purple light spread out across her device as if the veins of the harness were illuminated.

Tracer dropped her arms and froze in place, holding her breath in utter horror, feeling something, like fingers slowly reaching into her chest just inches from her heart.

But nothing happened.

Tracer gulped, slowly looking up at the hacker sitting on her stomach.

Sombra’s hair hung over her eyes, shield her face but her shoulders began to shake and breath became ragged as drops of water dripped onto Tracer’s chest.  

“H-how…” Sombra asked quietly in between her soft sobs. Slowly the purple light began to recede.

“Are you ok mate?” Tracer tried gently.

“How can you just...bounce back from _this_?!” Sombra screamed, snapping her face upwards.

Her cheeks were stained with tears as she looked at Tracer desperately.

Tracer only looked back in continuing confusion that worsened with each passing moment of silence.

Sombra shook her head,”This was a waste of time” she mumbled to herself, standing up and off Tracer’s body she began to walk away.

Another shot was fired, this time at Sombra’s feet instantly stopping her from leaving.

“Goddamnit will you stop that?!” she screamed, holding up two middle fingers to the skyline in the general direction of the bullet. She was very off but it was the principle of the thing.

Cautiously, Tracer sat up, gently tapping her device curiously but found no major changes to be concerned about for now.

“...what’s goin’ on now?”

With a long and heavy sigh, Sombra turned back around to face her.

Widowmaker watched in utter fascination, keeping her scope trained on Tracer’s face as Sombra unbuttoned her jacket and slowly unzipped the front of her vest.

She had never seen such a look of utter horror in Lena’s eyes.

Sombra wore a simple tank top underneath her gear, it was easy to see the familiar circle of light between her breasts, although it glowed red.

Tracer slowly stood to her feet, her eyes fixated on the small anchor as she approached. Sombra watched her carefully as a wave of mixed emotions flashed over her face, the girl’s hands beginning to shake as she reached up and removed her goggles from her face. She blinked hard to confirm what she was seeing but it was there. Now there were two in the world with Chronal disassociation.

“Oh...my God no...no no how...how did this happen?!” she cried, her eyes brimming with tears as she held her own mouth in shock. Her tone shifted, now angry in a flash of realization,”Did...did they do this to you?! On purpose?”

Sombra quickly zipped her vest back up, her fingers fumbling to clip the jacket back over her chest, “I...shouldn’t have come here...”

“I wouldn’t _**dare**_ wish this even upon my greatest enemy.” Lena hissed in a tone that surprised even Sombra.

In a terrible form of irony Tracer began to pace, as if staring at a mirror Sombra watched as Tracer walked around in circles unable to grasp what to say or do.

“Where did you...how did this...I don’t even...” she stopped for a moment to groaned, holding her face for a moment.

Silence hung in the air as Tracer glanced up in the distance, “Is...is this why she brought you? To me?”

Sombra looked away, holding her arms instinctively as she mumbled under her breath, “I can’t sleep...I’m too fucking afraid that I’ll…and I can’t eat or keep anything down...I just...forget where I am and always have to touch things to feel real and I just...”

Despite the words feeling sour in her mouth, as she stopped and stared at the familiar blue light in Tracer’s chest they were surprisingly easy to say.

“I need your help.”

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Widowmaker eventually returned to the fight and Tracer would receive the scolding of a lifetime but she took it in stride. Overwatch would have no idea about Sombra’s condition and Tracer swore to take it to the grave with her.

“I still don’t get what you see in her.”

A month later and things had seemingly returned to normal. Sombra continued to hack her way into every single government facility in the name of Talon and all was well. However she was quick to catch onto the possible blackmail with the killswitch. The very device she used against Tracer that fateful day would be used against her should she be caught disobeying.

A few minor modifications to the schematics was all she needed. It would be too late should they use it against before they realize it was more of a paperweight now.

The first thing Tracer sat down and spoke to her about was the fact that there was no cure, there was no way to reverse their condition, and accepting it was the only thing that could be done. There was no hack, no information available to fix it. But she would be damned before Talon would use it again her.   
  
She would play along for now. But she had every intention of making them all regret their actions.

“Too cheery for my taste, and I assumed yours.”

Widowmaker shrugged,“I don’t understand it either to be honest.”

Although that was a lie and she knew it, so did Sombra. She only laughed at the sniper but was cut short as she felt a buzz in her pocket.

“Oh speak of the devil.”

Widowmaker nearly stopped in her tracks as she read the sender from Sombra’s old flip phone she would normally use for off the grid purposes.

“Did she just text you?”

Sombra paused mid text upon hearing her baffled tone and grinned,“Oh, getting jealous?”

There was just the slightest twitch under her eye that would have gone unnoticed to anyone else.

“You must dislike your other kneecap.”

“Oh don’t be like that! C’mere!”

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Tracer was be in the middle of a mission briefing when her pocket buzzed. She quickly glanced down in her lap and immediately slapped it shut as she bit down on her finger to stop herself from smiling so hard.

She wasn’t sure what part she liked more.

The fact that Sombra was smiling or the most disgruntled look on Widowmaker’s face.

It was the start of possibly the strangest friendship she would ever have but she didn’t want it any other way.


End file.
